We included a shaded sandbox play area in our garden plan to give the kids something nearby to do when they tired of helping with garden chores. This was especially helpful when E was in his 2-year-old wandering phase as the garden is also fenced. Now E spends countless hours in his sandbox whether I’m in the garden or not. Recently one of his favorite activities has been playing restaurant and making “smoothies” and other concoctions to serve me as I work.

When I saw this post: Creating a Mudpie Kitchen on “Rhythm of the Home” I knew it was right up his alley. Before long, we had whipped up this arrangement, and we continue to look for more accessories (thrift store dishes, empty spice containers) as we go. Since the play area also runs alongside the chicken run, it also makes a great spot for a chicken drive-through. “Would you like some wild strawberries or chickweed with those grubs?”

I LOVE THIS! I do weekly family ed plans on my Four Corner Learning Facebook page…you would love them… here is this week’s:
Family Educational Plan – Fun with Leaves!

The funny thing about leaves is that they are FREE and they are everywhere! Have a little fun learning about nature with these green ideas!

Pre-K – Leaf Rubbings! Have your child gather interesting leaves, some paper, and crayons. Put the paper on top of the leaf and rub the crayon over the paper….voila! Leaf art! You can identify the name of the plant at the bottom of your paper, and put them all together to create your own leaf book!
*Leaf rubbingshttp://herbarium.desu.edu/pfk/page29/page30/page31/page31.html

Early Elementary – Leaf Creature Art. Collect many different shapes and sizes of leaves. Use the leaves that you have collected along with some small sticks and pine cone pieces to create pictures with sturdy paper and glue.

Elementary – Check Your Leaf Litter! Put several scoops of leaf debris into a bucket. Have some jars ready to collects any creatures you may find and pour your bucket onto a working surface. Dead leaves collected from the forest floor are an entire ecosystem all on their own! The web site below offers some step by step instructions.
*Leaf Litterhttp://www.kids-science-experiments.com/leaflitter.html

Middle School – Leaf Experiment! Everyone knows that the leaves change colors in the fall, but do you really know why? By doing this simple experiment, you can learn the answer! You need: spinach leaves, a glass, coffee filter, and some fingernail polish remover (DON’T DO THIS ON FURNITURE). The instructions from the experiment link below are more detailed, but you basically chop up the spinach and cover it with fingernail polish remover in the bottom of a glass. Then, hang a strip of coffee filter over a pencil so that it touches the solution. The water will travel up the strip and spread the colors from the leaves. Once the chlorophyl (green) is all gone the other colors in the leaf show up!